My grandparents are up to their necks in flood waters, holding a bag of medicine and their dog Missie above their heads while yelling into the darkness for help from their second-storey balcony.
As the news cycle moves on to discussions about rebuilding, I'm stuck on that image of my grandparents, Kathleen and Norman Clapham, 84 and 85.
But our story is not unique — many of my fellow bewildered residents in northern NSW are still grappling with the replays of almost drowning.
Kathleen and Norman live in downtown Lismore, in a house raised a few feet above the 1974 flood height. So, when an SES volunteer visited them in the wee hours, before the city's levee over-topped, they were told they could stay at home as the predicted flood level wouldn't wet their feet.
Mere moments later it was up to their second-storey ceiling.
Their anxious family called triple-0 only to hear a recorded message urging flood victims to try the State Emergency Service (SES). A call to the SES was met with another recorded message urging people to instead try triple-0.
And so it went, back and forth, until someone, anyone, would finally pick up.
When Kathleen and Norman appeared shaken and sodden on the TV news being lifted out of a boat later that morning, I assumed the authorities had finally answered and reached them. But it was a man named Craig Beck, from up the hill, who heard their calls and rescued them with his canoe.
We may never know just how many Craigs were out there in the height of the floods, or how many people they saved, but photos and videos show hordes of self-organising civilians who the SES asked to assist in a call-out on ABC North Coast radio on Monday morning.
That call later changed, with the SES asking civilians to stay out of the water when it became too dangerous.
Cries for help on social media, and a spreadsheet created by Sally Flannery after she was rescued from a Lismore rooftop, are also being hailed as saving the lives of countless people.
The SES recorded 408 call-outs in Lismore in the 24 hours until 4am on Monday, February 28, when the floods started. The same morning, 374 calls for help were made within 30 minutes, but it's impossible to know how many attempted calls didn't make it through.
Five people have so far been confirmed dead across the region, while others are in disbelief the toll was not higher after scores of desperate rescues and failed attempts to reach emergency services.
They don't blame the Australian Defence Force or the SES, but know something has gone awry when no-one answers a triple-0 call and are left screaming from rooftops and ceiling cavities.
The people of Lismore want someone to be accountable and a commitment to make sure it won't happen again.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has admitted aspects of the emergency flood response were "unacceptable" and people should not have had to rely on civilian rescuers to survive.
He said his government would be thoroughly reflecting on problems, resourcing, and the amount of time people had to evacuate.
When asked who people should blame for the lack of resourcing that resulted in mass civilian-led rescues, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told local media:
"I think we have to be realistic that in any natural disaster, we don't have those resources just waiting around the corner," he said.
Northern Rivers residents responded in droves to Mr Morrison's comments as they were streamed live on the ABC North Coast Facebook page:
Who's responsible for rescuing people? Trained people are meant to rescue people in dangerous situations. I hope you don't find yourself in a dangerous situation Scomo, and rely on your neighbours to help you out instead of emergency services. — Mia Gkotsis
It's not a combination of community and government response. It was solely the community for a whole week! — Tennille O'Brien
The Prime Minister was at pains to say the community is now getting money and support, but also it is important to keep looking forward.
"What's the next step ahead? Getting the rubbish off the street," he said.
The Northern Rivers will continue cleaning up that rubbish as the rescue stories continue to flood in, whether it's "two blokes in a tinnie" saving families stranded on rooftops, an elderly neighbour rescued from a floating bed, or boatloads of residents plucked from swallowed caravans.
The community will rebuild.
But if floods like this are part of the "new normal" then there needs to be new ways of responding to emergencies.
Samantha Turnbull is a features reporter based at ABC North Coast.
